Credit given to: wcscomputerlab
Unfortunately the answer is a somewhat qualified "yes"
It is possible for your ISP to track your visits, since all your web page requests must first pass through them. Whether they would keep that information? Probably not, it would take up an enormous amount of storage.
However, your ISP, is not the only one who can track your visits...
When you click on a link to a website, you send a HttpRequest to the web server. This request may actually be transferred from intermediate servers across the country (or world) until it arrives at the server hosting the webpage. The information in this request includes such things as :
1. The referring page - for instance, if I clicked on a link in a google search, that information is sent with the request
2. What browser you are using
3. Various .net applications you have on your computer
4. Your computer's IP address (a sort of "Phone number")
5. The destination IP address
6. The page or file location such as www.yahoo.com/index.html
This information is given to each server that handles the request. How long they keep the information is up to the individual serving host adminstrators.
When the request arrives at the host web server, the server then uses the information to locate the requested page and then send it back to you. It may also send along a"cookie".
A cookie is a small text file that only the the originating host server can access (you can access them too on your computer). Normally this text file would inlcude such information such as when you last visited the site, how long you visited, what pages you visited, password information, etc. By itself, a cookie is harmless. However, they can be used to track you through the web. I can explain how this is done if you would like.
Now back to your question. What exactly is stored about you and for how long? Each host stores only that information you or your browser sends to it. As stated before, one of the things your browser sends is what page sent you to them (called a "referrer") . Another thing sent is your IP address which can reveal a little about your location. To check this out, go to http://tools.whois.net/yourip/ . Your IP address is shown, if you click on the "Who is on..." link, you will be shown what is publically revealed about your IP address.
And of course, each web host will keep track of which pages are visited by that IP address and how many times they visited.
Here is an example from a website that I monitor:
Hits 31
KBytes 22
Visits 21
Hostname: cache-ntc-ab03.proxy.aol.com
To translate, we would know that this Ip address "cache-ntc-ab03.proxy.aol.com" made 31 hits, downloaded 22 kilobytes of files and made 21 visits that month. I keep this information for about a year.
So to sum up, a lot if information is being transferred to a web server from you. Your ISP is the only one who knows that IP address 201.167.110.87 is actually you, everyone else only knows your IP address and what you and your browser send them!
I haven't touched on proxy servers, but this is one way to avoid giving away too much information. And of course one way to have your web surfing tracked is to pick up a virus or to download unscrupulous software that will send information about your surfing habits back to its' developers. It's not hard to insert a few lines of code into a program that will do exactly that. Be sure to have a good anti-virus and a firewall that protects your incoming as well as outgoing internet traffic.